I know its hard to understand for folks outside the NOLA area but many conservatives voted for Nagin this time and thats what got him the edge. He was the Republican and conservative's guy last time. Much of MItch's vote in fact came from white Liberal areas of New Orleans. The Republican front runner in the primary endorsed Nagin. Nagin many feel was the best choice of the two. He is the most conservative also. Furthermore, many conservatives feel they can trust and work with Nagin versus Landrieu.
Also as a part of this a very liberal Democratic family might have had nail driven in their coffin tonight. This has national implication since Landrieu's Sister comes up for re election for the US Senate in 2008. Not many Black Democratic mayors would stand up and say at his Victory celebration ""I want to thank you Mr. President... we are probably the most vilified politicians in this country... I want to thank you for fulfilling your promise..." and then to proceed in the next breath to in clever way to slam a Dem Governor. There is more to Nagin than meets the eye.
guess you would know. Hope you are right.